New Vegetarian?

Question

I just became a vegetarian in February but I don't know if I am being very smart about what I have been eating. Basically, I just stopped eating meat. What are some foods that will replace anything I am losing by not eating meat.

MY BIGGEST QUESTION IS: Do Boca and Morning Star products give you the same vitamins as what they are replacing?? I am not good at reading nutritional labels bc I don't know what I need; I just can't bring myself to eat an animal ever ever again.

WHAT ARE SOME GOOD RECIPES???

Answer 1

take a multivitamin. You need lots of protein, and iron whcih meat supply.

Answer 2

You should never walk into any diet without learning what it involves.  Learn how to read labels and learn what you need.  Do some research.  

You are going to get really sick if you don't get what you need.  Buy a book about vegetarianism or plan to go to Barnes and Noble and read for a couple of hours.  They have a ton of good vegetarian books (including recipe books) and big cozy chairs you can sit in.

You can also search for resolved questions that are just like yours in this category.  Look above on this page and it says "search for questions".

Answer 3

Eat lots of lentils, beans, eggs, and dairy to replace meats.  Dont rely on factory made substitutes.  Mexican, Italian, and Indian food should have a lot of recipes for these items.  Get Mark Bittman's Vegitarian Cookbook.  His cookbooks are some of the best out there.

Answer 4

If you're really concerned about getting the right about vitamins, take multivitiman. However, Boca and Morningstar products are very nutritious.

Answer 5

The biggest concern of many newbie vegetarians seems to be protein, a pernicious myth fomented by animal exploitation industries.  But every source I've come across suggests you need between .3 and .5 grams of protein per pound of body weight.  Every food label will tell you how much protein is in a serving of that food.

Then you look at the fat content:  You want a fairly low fat content and a sat fat as close to zero as possible.  However, if you like your dark chocolate, this isn't going to happen.  The higher the cacao content, the higher the sat fat.

Look at sodium.  One rule of thumb is that you have one milligram of sodium per calorie in a day.  Most processed foods are notoriously high in sodium, so try to limit them.

Check out the Iron, Calcium, and vitamins.  These are just by percentage, but you want them as high as possible.

No, it can't hurt to take a multivitamin.  Many vegan websites have vitamins formulated for veg*ans.  If you buy conventional ones, make sure they don't have gelatin.

Boca is owned by Altria (formerly Philip Morris) and Morningstar Farms is owned by Kelloggs.  It's up to you to decide whether or not to support them.  I prefer Gardenburger and Amy's products.  Get to know Amy's--she is a lifeline for veg*ans.

And the only things you're losing by not eating meat is cholesterol, saturated fat, hormones, antibiotics, and steroids.

Recipes: www.vegweb.com.  www.recipezaar.com also has some good vegetarian recipes, but is not a vegetarian site.

Answer 6

Beans, Eggs, Dairy and a Multivitamin(w/iron)  Make sure you take the multivitamin with certain foods as it will help your body use the iron more efficiently.  Also almost all cereals are a great source of iron, and you get your milk to.( Drink fat free organic milk) animal fat is nasty) 1 serving of Special K with protein has 10 grams of Protein 5 grams of Fiber and 45% of your daily iron.  and who eats 1 serving.